Ranchers Face Tough Decisions

James L. Davis

The impact of drought and devastating wildfires in the state are impacting cattlemen and ranchers across Utah, including those in Emery County as many face the difficult decision of either holding on through a long winter season or selling off their cattle.

The impact of extreme heat in the county throughout the summer has raised the prospect that the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service may call for the early removal of cattle off summer ranges, which will force cattlemen to feed off of hay reserves.

Add to that the devastation of the wildfires and the fact that thousands of acres of hay have been destroyed, which has raised the price per ton of hay through the roof, leaves cattlemen in dire straights.

“Hay that we would normally buy if we had to came from the areas where the wildfires were. It’s driving the market up,” said Arch Allred of Cleveland. With a herd of approximately 80 cattle, his family ranch had increased the size of its herd over the past couple of years and now they must consider reducing its size again.

Like most cattlemen in the county they try to grow enough hay of their own to meet their needs, but the weather has been a factor in production.

“Most years we don’t have to buy hay, but we’ve been in a drought for so many years that our hay production has been down,” Allred said.

For John and Sheila Lemon, full time cattlemen from Ferron, the production of hay has also been down this year and while they will have enough to feed their herd, they won’t dare sell any surplus.

The dry hay market will impact not only cattlemen but also horse owners and those in the dairy industry, who will have to pay higher and higher prices for hay and will in turn have to pass those price increases on to their milk customers, according to Randy Parker, chief executive officer for the Utah Farm Bureau Federation.

“Bugs and cold weather hurt our first crop and then the heat hurt our second crop, so we’re really hoping for a good third crop,” Sheila Lemon said.

For the Lemon ranch they counted on being able to sell surplus hay to meet expenses on the ranch. Most of their sales went to buyers in California and with good hay now selling for around $140 a ton, not being able to sell it hurts the bottom line. It means that they will have to make adjustments to their operation.

“We’ll sell the calves earlier. We’re probably going to cull the cows and ship some of them,” John Lemon said.

Like Lemon, Allred and other cattlemen will be looking to sell their calves earlier, which many fear will result in a flooded market.

“It’s a snowball effect. You depend on your calf crop to pay your feed bill,” Allred said.
Cattlemen that had been in the path of the wildfires are even harder hit as they attempt to survive having no summer range and having their hay crops destroyed. Many are scrambling for a place to graze their herds and the high price of hay climbs even higher. Even without the drought and wildfires, hay production is down nationally as farmers have turned to growing corn to tap into the more lucrative biodiesel business.

According to Parker a request has been made of the Department of Agriculture to designate 25 of 29 counties in Utah disaster areas based on the drought, insect infestations or fires.
“It is basically a state wide designation,” Parker said. He said the federation has already asked the BLM and Forest Service to look at extending the summer range timeline, not call for early offs.

A disaster designation will provide emergency feeding assistance through the Livestock Compensation Program as well as allow access to low interest loans. Additionally a request is being made to allow emergency grazing of Utah’s Conservation Reserve Program lands. These lands are normally only opened up to grazing every 10 years. Work is also underway to allow for emergency grant assistance for feed.

The situation faced this year is as bad or worse then the one faced by cattlemen in 2002, when the state saw in excess of 50 percent of the cattle herds liquidated.

Utah is the number one state in the nation for farming operations with off farm income, but even with off farm income, surviving a year as devastating as the one now faced is going to call for painful decisions.

“It’s time for some tough decisions. Everyone needs to evaluate their resources,” Parker said, adding that the end of a grueling summer is not yet in sight.

“There are about 100 ranches impacted by the fires and Aug. 1 is the mid point of the fire season. We’re only halfway through,” he said.

The rains that have rolled through the area mountains and across the state in the past week are a glimmer of hope.

“If they continue it is pretty good timing,” Parker said.

As summer gives way to fall ranchers and cattlemen will have to make the tough decisions on how to survive with a winter range that looks poor and the prospect of skyrocketing feed, if it can even be found.

“It’s a lifestyle you love, which is why you do it. Business wise you might sacrifice this year if you can see that you’re going to have a pretty good year next year. It’s a big gamble and we’re still debating that,” Allred said. “We built our herd up from 50 to 80 because we had a couple of good years, but we’ll probably have to downsize again.”
Despite the weather, the fires and the insects, ranchers and cattlemen hold on to their way of life with grit and determination.

“We do it because it’s the best way we know to raise a family,” Allred said.

Pageant Cast Prepares for Opening Night

James L. Davis

Youth from the Coalville Stake climbed the hill to the Castle Valley Pageant on July 26, a week early for the first performance but still able to catch a glimpse of the magic that envelopes the hill overlooking the valley every year.

While the Coalville Stake’s youth conference came a week early and couldn’t be changed, that didn’t stop the volunteers preparing for the pageant from letting the youth enjoy one of their rehearsals and Mark Justice, Castle Valley Pageant president, took time to welcome them to the rehearsal as he introduced Montell Seeley, author of the pageant, to the audience.

“It happens every year. A group comes in early and watches a rehearsal,” said Kathryn Seeley.
Another thing that happens every year is that the volunteers will gather to make the pageant a success, putting in hour after hour of their time as they have over and over again. It’s all part of the pageant’s 30 year history.

“There are a lot of things that go on this time of year so it takes a lot of dedication to be up here,” Kathryn said.

“There are close to 300 people who will be involved in the pageant,” Justice said, looking out on the pageant site as actors ran through their rehearsal.

Last year the pageant was looked over by a review committee from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Composed of three members from the Quorum of the Seventies, the committee was studying each of the seven church sponsored pageants to determine if all should continue to be supported by the church.

“All of them were very nice and very complimentary of the pageant and made a commitment to the pageant. So I think we passed,” Justice said with a smile.

With the church committing support of the pageant, the organizers of the pageant have committed to trying to increase attendance, which has been down the past couple of years. Justice said that pamphlets were sent out to all of the ward bishops in the state announcing the dates of the pageant to renew interest in the event.

In the past couple of years the events of the pageant pioneer village have been expanded, with activities that everyone can get involved with. From rope making to wagon rides and ice cream making, the pioneer village is an up close chance for visitors to catch a glimpse of what life was like for early pioneers of Castle Valley.

Justice said that each year finds new volunteers coming to help put on the pageant and the return of others who have been part of the event for years on end. Some have been involved with the event since they were small children and some, as in the case of Ryan and Darcy Johansen, found each other while at the pageant.

Sitting on the bleachers, waiting for his time to perform, Ryan Johansen reflects on his more than 20 year history with the pageant.

“I stopped coming for a few years and then I started getting back into it and I don’t know why, I just did,” Johansen said with a smile. Although he had known Darcy when they went to high school together, it was at the pageant that they found each other. “Montell got us square dancing and it went from there,” he said.

Dog Issues Keep Some Communities Howling

James L. Davis

It has been said that one sure way to get attendance at any city council meeting is to put a dog issue, any dog issue, on the agenda. Then good attendance is assured.

While that statement may or may not be true, there are perhaps as many different opinions about dogs and how to regulate them as there are breeds. Some pet owners want no ordinances that limit what they can or cannot do with their dog and others who don’t own dogs would rather ban dogs altogether.

While the cities of Emery County have their own versions of dog ordinances in place the ordinances vary from one community to the other. And while the ordinances may vary, what doesn’t seem to vary is that most cities see that they have a problem with dogs in one form or another, usually with dogs running at large.

At Huntington City Hall they receive complaints daily on dogs being a nuisance, and by a nuisance that can mean everything from using your front yard as a restroom to threatening your children. The city dog ordinance, established in 1980, is woefully out of date and has been planned for revision for some time.

In Castle Dale the dog ordinance was recently revised to give the city a better bite at enforcement and with fines that can be assessed as high as $1,000 for offending pet owners.

In Ferron the city also receives a number of dog complaints and Sid Swasey, who has the title of Animal Control Officer on top of his other city duties, responds to the calls when they come.
Recently he responded to a dog bite situation and the Emery County Sheriff’s Office was called, but after arriving he said the victim would not file charges, so the dog was quarantined at home for 10 days to verify that the dog did not have rabies, but since the victim would not file charges there was little more that could be done.

In Orangeville, with some of the toughest dog ordinances of any of the communities in the county, dogs continue to be an issue.

For Martin Wilson, county Animal Control Officer, he has seen every type of problem over the years.
“We’ve had different problems in different cities. Everyone wants a fast answer and there isn’t any,” he said. Most of the problems he responds to are calls of dogs running at large. “If everyone kept their dogs at home there wouldn’t be a problem.”

Despite a wide array of ordinances and attempts by different communities, dogs continue to be a problem, from dogs running loose to dogs biting. For Dr. Glen Jensen, veterinarian, owner of Emery Animal Health and the manager of the Emery County Animal Shelter, dog ordinances will never solve all of the problems.

“As a dog advocate I would like to see us not have so many restrictions that we can’t live as a community. Individuals who pass laws pass them based on emotion and trying to do the right thing. The ordinance won’t solve everything. We need to educate people on dogs,” Jensen said.

One way to limit dogs running at large problems is for dogs to have an AVID microchip, according to Jensen. Jensen also believes it would beneficial to cities to have dog licenses good for three years, to coincide with the rabies vaccination, which is one of the main reasons dog licenses were initiated in the first place.

When it comes to vicious dogs each town addresses the problem to one extent or another but many of the ordinances are vague as to what will happen to the dog, and the dog owner, should the animal bite a person or attack another dog.

“We see the occasional dog that has bitten someone, but most of the time what we see is a dog that is scared and has been provoked. A lot of times someone will be bitten by a dog and have no idea that they have provoked the dog. Kids are the biggest victims of dog bites and they don’t know how to prevent provoking a dog. Education might be the best solution. We need to educate people on how to take good care of animals,” Jensen said.

Occasionally people will take a dog nuisance problem into their own hands and resort to poisoning a dog. “If you’ve ever watched a dog die from these toxins, it’s not good,” Jensen said.
The American Veterinary Medical Association reports that 4.7 million people were bitten by dogs in the United States last year and Jensen points to an AVMA pamphlet, A Community Approach to Dog Bite Prevention, as one education tool that would be useful for all communities.

While some cities have toyed with the idea of restricting certain breeds of dogs from the city, Jensen said that is not the solution.

“If you were to outlaw pit bulls, who is to say if it is a pit bull. Does is have to be a papered pit bull. If it is half pit bull is it a pit bull? If it looks like a pit bull, is it a pit bull?”

According to the AVMA all dogs can bite and it offers tips on how to avoid dog bites. Among the tips are:

• Pick a dog that is good match for your home. Consult your veterinarian for details about the behavior of different breeds.

• Socialize your pet. Gradually expose your puppy to a variety of people and other animals so it feels at ease in these situations; continue this exposure as your dog gets older.

• Train your dog. Commands can build a bond of obedience and trust between man and dog. Avoid aggressive games like wrestling or tug-of-war with your dog.

• Vaccinate your dog against rabies and other diseases.

• Neuter or spay your dog. These dogs are less likely to bite.

• Never leave a baby or small child alone with a dog.

• Teach your child to ask a dog owner for permission before petting any dog.

• Let a strange dog sniff you or your child before touching it, and pet it gently, avoiding the face, head and tail.

• Never bother a dog if it is sleeping, eating or caring for puppies.

• Do not run past a dog.

• If a dog threatens you, remain calm. Avoid eye contact. Stand still or back away slowly until the dog leaves. If you are knocked down, curl into a ball and protect your face with your arms and fists.

Dog issues will likely remain issues of constant debate for years to come and each city will attempt to deal with the problems dogs present in their own way. But whether it be through ordinances, education or a combination of the two, dogs require care to not become a community problem.

“You can’t tie a dog to a chain and wonder why it has become vicious,” Wilson said.